A story of Magic and Runes
by LaurXD
Summary: When Elsword realizes his magic just won't cut it,he turns towards the one that has always been there supporting him with his magical training. Follow Elsword as he faces the trials of a Rune Slayer.
1. Prologue

Here are the classes:

Els:Magic Knight (laterz) Rune Slayer

Aisha:Elemental Master

Raven:Blade Master

Chung:Deadly Chaser

Eve:Code Nemesis

Rena:Night Watcher

Laur:Why the H am I writing this at 1:56 in the morning? Also my first fanfiction.

**T/Prologue**

"Come on Els,you have to at least try to do damage to me with your attacks!" taunted Raven whilst deflecting the swings Elsword threw towards him.

"You're sooo easy to read!" he continued with a smirk while ducking under one of Elsword's sideways swings and delivering a kick to his feet causing the young Knight to lose his balance and fall on his side.

"Bah, "the redhead gritted his teeth and rose back up,sword in hand, "Well time to get serious then!" he lifted his sword in a striking stance and dashed towards his sparring partner, he then feigned a down-wards strike towards Raven's right side which made the Blade Master dodge the other way. "Gotcha!" Elsword then used his strike's momentum as he stuck his blade in the ground and jumped over his friend launching an overhead fireball from his left hand.

"Seriously?"Raven easily blocked the fireball with his nasod arm and turned around at the now defenseless Elsword who safely landed behind him,sword still stuck in the ground.

"Well. Now,you're disarmed, and I'm within striking distance, also your fireball was kinda weak,you should probably work on that." Raven calmly stated while sheathing his sword and they both started walking towards Chung who was inspecting his Destroyer and Silver Shooters near them.

"Oh,you guys are done?" Not waiting for a response Chung continued "Then,Raven mind if we go at it in 10 minutes or so? I've recently upgraded the barrels on my Silver Shooters and I'm dying to test the accuracy on a moving target" He said half smiling and awkwardly scratching his head.

"Ah,Els." The black haired man said towards the redhead "You should probably try to get a little magic-oriented training. Your fire-balls are strong,don't get me wrong, but if we're going to fight armored foes in the future, they won't be of much use, considering how I've easily blocked your fire ball with my nasod arm." Raven gestured towards the house. "You should probably ask Aisha for advice or something,she IS the Elemental Master, you know?"

"Yeah,Yeah,I get it but I wanted to do this on my own..if I am to get stronger it has to be on my own!" Elsword replied,his fists clenched and crimson eyes shining with determination.

"Els,we're a team" Chung said placing a hand on his shoulder, "We should help each-other become stronger, each-one-teach-one you know?" He gave him a reassuring smile "I couldn't have became a Deadly Chaser with a modified Destroyer without Eve's help for instance."

"Yeah,same here,my speed comes from training with Rena,you should know best how fast she is. "Raven added. "Just go ask Aisha for advice, if you don't want her to train you or with you"

"Fine, as long as it will get you off my case already!" He started walking towards the house slightly disappointed in himself. One lingering thought still stuck in his mind. "I have to do it on my own,but, what if, I can't, what if I fail and disappoint everyone, what if I disappoint, her" the boy said to himself while opening the front door.

The El-house was a large two floored house provided by the city of Hamel as a reward for the gang's role in re-taking the city. The first floor had a large living room that had a couch,two bean-bags (AN:I have no clue how to describe those bag looking chairs!) a nice low table that was usually used by Eve when a quest would arrive for the El-gang for briefing them and overall planning the quest,or as how Elsword uses it, to prop his feet up on it while watching T.V. Two normal armchairs all facing towards the television. The stairs were directly across from the front door and to the right of them was the kitchen simply separated from the living room by a kitchen counter.

While entering the house, Rena greeted him from the couch, smiling "Done so soon?"she asked while putting the T.V remote down.

"Eheheh,yeah I'm not feeling it today." Elsword gave a fake laugh hoping Rena wouldn't catch on to his gloomy thoughts.

"Els.." Rena turned around on the couch to face him properly. "How long have we been traveling together?" Her tone was serious but not the constricting serious,the kind serious.

"Eh...from the start?" He awkwardly answered slumping his shoulders. "Great, she knows something's up" he thought.

"That's right,now I know something's wrong with you. Why are you trying to hide it?" Her tone was the same,but her eyes looked hurt and Elsword saw that.

"Well...fine I'll tell you." He walked towards the couch and sat down,his elbows on his knees and his face on his palms, he started speaking softly.

"You know how I went through that ritual becoming a Magic Knight right?, Well." The boy took a deep breath and continued. "That's not enough, I'm not strong enough, Raven and Chung both suggested that I ask Aisha for help with my magic but..." He stopped for a while and after a brief sigh he continued "I can't do I ever did was train on my own. You'd always find me just slashing at a tree and getting myself worn out, but I think that's just not gonna cut it anymore but you know, all my life I worked hard to become a Red Knight, all alone. That's how it always was."

Rena placed an arm on his back and reassured him. "Els,you're no longer alone,the guys didn't tell you to ask for help because you're weak, they told you to ask for it because training in a bad way won't help you get better. Wouldn't it be better if you knew for a fact that you're training your magic the right way,rather than doing it wrong and getting yourself hurt, not that ever stopped you but, think of what we,your friends would feel if you went and practiced your magic and got hurt in the process, especially think of Aisha. I mean she's a mage,how'd she feel like if you went and did something like that without at least asking for advice?"

"Yeah,you're right Rena! It's just advice right? The training I can do on my own!" his head perked up and his spirit rose. "I'm going to ask Aisha right now for advice!"

Elsword climbed the stairs towards the second floor which had the gang's bedrooms and Aisha's went to the first door on the right and started knocking...once...twice. "How odd,she isn't answering." Els thought while he knocked for the third time,even louder than the first two and he heard shuffling from the other side,a clicking noise and the door opened revealing a sleepy eyed Aisha wearing a blue pyjama with dark blue snowflakes and small yellow thunderbolts. Seeing the mage with this childish outfit on was new to Elsword, seeing Aisha's bed-hair and childish pj's was different from her usual outfit for sure but, the redhead saw it as cute. Something he never thought he could think towards the small mage. Her voice snapped him out if his thoughts.

"Yeeeeesssss,what do you want Eldolt?" She said in a sleepy voice after which she yawned behind her palm.

"First of all...it's almost twelve o'clock, What we're you doing last night that you were sleeping until now?" Elsword said as he rose an eyebrow at the yawning mage.

"What's it to you? I can do whatever I want with my /yawn/ time." Aisha retorted sticking her tongue out at him. "Anyways why are you bothering me? Did you lose your sword again? Try looking under the couch and lemme sleep!" she sleepily said and tried to close the door but Elsword stopped her.

"Look. Sorry for waking you up. I need help, can I come in?" His tone was serious but his eyes were distant,due to her still-awakening state,Aisha failed to notice that.

"Eh?! H-Help?" the mage stammered and started rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "Y-Yeah sure you can come in.." She then proceeded to slam the door in his face and loud shuffling noises could be heard from behind the door as Elsword was left there,with a imaginary question mark above his head.

"AISHAAA! YOU SAID I CAN COME IN! WHY THE HECK DID YOU SHUT THE DOOR IN MY FACE!?" Elsword yelled from outside her heard laughter coming from Rena downstairs but chose to think it had nothing to do with him.

"HANG ON A SECOND! I HAVE TO GET READY!"Aisha yelled as well from her own room,while combing her hair and making the bed both at the same time,she was mentally kicking herself for allowing Elsword to see her "sleepy-look".

After a few minutes the door opened revealing Aisha with her hair bound in two pony-tails wearing her usual outfit with the boots being replaced by some slippers.

"Ok now you can come in!" She brightly exclaimed happy that Elsword came to her for help,whatever this might mean she'd be happy to give it to him,sure they might argue from time to time but she knew Elsword never meant what he said because he would always apologize after an had not once shown his soft side to her, she knew better than even Rena who was with him from the beginning of his journey,and he has shown her his serious side,not his happy-go-lucky usual self.

Aisha's room wasn't as girly as she'd appear,her room was neatly arranged with a bookshelf,a clean desk,her bed and even though Elsword had been in her room before,he never did get used to the contrast of the girly Aisha and the organised nature of her room.

"What did you want from me again?" Aisha said while walking towards the bed and sitting on the edge.

"Erm...You're a mage right?" Elsword started talking while sitting on the bed as well.

"Last time I checked, yes I was, what's your point?" Aisha raised an eyebrow at him while folding her arms. "You aren't going to make me magically make something for you again are you? Because I told you last time I am NOT getting you flying boots!"

"No..no.." He softly said while laying on his back in her bed. Her bed smelled of strawberries and he briefly wondered if it was because of her,but he was getting off-track. "I need you to help me with my magic,because, you see, it's not strong enough" Elsword awkwardly scratched his head as he continued. "I can bring up fire balls at will..." And as it to prove he held his hand upwards and a tiny flame came to. For Aisha it didn't matter if she herself could do that,she never saw Elsword's magical fire up close,and having it light the rather dark room due to the fact that she forgot to pull her courtains to let the sunlight in,seemed to mesmerize her,but his voice broke her from her trance. "But, these don't really do much,I can also enchant my sword in fire for extra power while attacking. Anyways my point is, can you give me some advice to practice my magic? Like how to do it right and,stuff?" Elsword clenched his fist making the flame disappear

For Aisha this was new. Elsword never asked for help. He was known for his recklessness, for always diving in and yet, here he was, asking her for advice on how to get better with his magic. However she knew he can't get better at it. But she also knew why he couldn't get better too and of course she'd help.

"Well, Els, how should I put it, you can't get better with magic. Not with your fireballs at least." She slowly touched her arm as if what she was going to tell him was about to be lethal.

"W-what do you mean?" he asked sitting up on the edge of the bed again. "What do you mean, I can't get better?"Elsword repeated.

"Look, you don't have mana, so you can't charge up your fireballs, you have to use something else, that can tap into your strength, your spiritual strength."

She then turned to look at him. The boy was shocked, he had a blank look on his face, for him hearing that he can't get any stronger was something he could not comprehend ,that awoke a memory of his sister,right before she left to lead a mission from which she would never return to him.

"I have to go Els,the men are waiting for me" Elesis broke the hug her brother was giving her. "Don't cry now,I'll be sure to return to you!" She smiled at a younger Elsword," Promise me that while I'm gone you'll get stronger, okay?,I have to go now." And with that, she left. He could barely remember her face, but deep within him, the most frightening thing was by far being weak, if not for him, then for his sister, and now being told that he can't get any stronger with his magic resembled his world being shattered.

"But, there might be another way,something different,something for someone as strong willed as you!" Aisha's face brightened as she remembered something "I got it!" She quickly rose from her bed and turned at Elsword who was still in a daze, grabbing his hand and literally dragging him after her.

They entered her library and Aisha quickly scanned the lower part of a dusty bookshelf picking a book from there, a book from someplace else, in the end having to climb a step-ladder to reach a higher place for a book entitled "Runes:Combinations and Signs" .Now the library was a place where Elsword had never been, granted he always thought it was filled with books like any other normal library, but Aisha's was different. Weird things filled the shelves that ranged from alchemical ingredients to a little globe section with elements inside was simply amazed as he could not comprehend how snow was able to keep, well, snowing, inside a globe,or how fire would keep on burning. The boy absentmindedly walked around the room not looking where he was going until he bumped the step-ladder which Aisha used to reach the higher shelves, causing her to lose her balance letting out a small shriek.

"ELS-!"was all she could manage before she fell backwards into the nothing-ness of the air.

Elsword, hearing her distressed scream instintively looked upwards and stretched his arms out catching her. The girl was lighter than he expected her to be. Aisha's eyes were closed and her hands were curled up into smal fists. Elsword's question regarding her bed was answered ,the strawberry smell DID actually come from her, he was so enchanted by her in his arms that he unconsciously brought his face closer to her's.

Aisha. slowly opened her eyes wondering why hadn't she hit the ground by now, and the first thing she realized was that she was in Elsword's arms,and his face was in close proximity of hers, those two things were enough to make her turn beet red and start flailing her arms around.

"ELSSSWOOORD PUT ME DOOOWN!" Her scream from that close startled Elsword and he dropped her rather unexpectedly.

Aisha got up from the ground,turning away from Elsword a fierce blush spreading across her fac. The girl was trying to calm down her heart which was for some reason beating really fast. Elsword was going through the same kind of experience, his hair rivaling his face in color and his heart going 120 beats per 30 seconds.

"Elsword.." Aisha's voice was like a whisper "Please be carefull around here,these things are magically potent after all." his reply was a simple "uh-huh" accompanied by a dazed face.

"Anyways Els, grab these books and follow me to my room!" She suddenly perked up, grabbed the book she picked from the higher shelf and went on ahead letting Elsword carry some of the biggest books he has ever laid eyes upon.

"Aisha what's up with the books? How are those going to help me get better with magic?" Elsword was dumb-struck,he simply could not wrap his head around how books could get him stronger.

"With magic? They won't help you with that" Aisha stopped herself from giggling at his expression. "They'll help you master something else, something stronger than your level of magic." She confidently smiled and continued "These are rune books!"

"Runes?...what are those?" Elsword was confused,even more so than at first.

Now his expression was so funny to Aisha she couldn't help herself but laugh at him,he was alike a kid who had been given a overly complicated toy to play with.

"I should start explaining then,runes,are alike magic, but you know how, for instance, I have to say an incantation for a spell I'm currently casting right?"

"Right.." he answered urging her with his eyes to continue.

"Well runes are kind of the same thing,only their power is determined not by th ecaster, but by the difficulty of the runes,like, see here." she showed him a simple rune formed of a circle and three horizontal lines."This one is for wind,I can cast all of these,because I've mastered all the elements, you on the other hand have an affinity for the fire type so you can cast those, now this is different from magic because casting a rune doesn't require mana, it requires willpower not just the normal type of willpower either that power is usually obtained through a ritual, but that's going too far ahead. What I'm saying is,you can master using runes to attack and just keep using magic to enhance your blade!"

Aisha gave him a thumbs up and pushed the books into his lap.

"Wait so all I have to do is learn to draw these things and I'll be able to, attack with them?" Elsword raiesed his eyebrow. "It can't be that simple!"

"Look Els,remember that ritual you had to go through to unlock your magic potential?" Aisha's face was serious,and so was her tone.

"Y-Yeah?" Came his reply.

"It's gonna be kinda the same,only, as I said it revolves around willpower so the ritual is more of a test for you rather than simply unlocking your potential in casting these."

"Hey, Aisha?" Elsword turned calm."Can-Can you show me how do you cast one of these?"

"E...erm...sure "Aisha was taken aback by his request. "Let me look for a simple one" Her being a magician granted her the power to summon runes,so this was a piece of cake for the mage.

Taking a deep breath she stretched her arm in front of her and started drawing a circle with her fingers,from the tip of her finger orange glitter seemed to take the shape she was moving her hand in,inside the circle she then drew another circle and on top of that one she drew an X orange dust seemed to solidify and glow brighter and brighter until it evaporated.

"That rune was called "Flash" She stated.

Elsword just stared at her,then at the now dusty remains of the that entire drawing process he couldn't keep his eyes off her, the way her face was shining in the light of the rune captivated him ,and once more he remembered just how many things Aisha did for him during his journey with remembered the first time he casted a fire-ball and thought his hand was on fire, he tried doing the stop,dodge, and roll tactic but the flames being magical, of course they wouldn't go out,he also remembered Aisha laughing about that for three weeks and teasing him non-stop too, it's weird, he thought,"She's always been there with me, everytime I actually asked her for support she's been there. Even if we'd argue at times."

"-word,ELSWORRD! "Aisha yelled waving a hand before him. "Are you even listening to me? "She puffed her cheeks and pouted while folding her arms."I was just saying you,for starters,need to at least familiarize yourself with the concept of runes, so for the next couple of days try reading these" She motioned towards a couple of books, "The fighters who mastered runes were called Rune Slayers, they are close to being extinct now..." Saying that her face took a sad expression but she perked up in just a moment. "Their history is within these books,so you better get familiar with it!"

"Y-Yeah,sorry ,I was remembering how you've always been there for me, whenever I asked for your support you have given me your best. I..just..thank you! "Elsword then hugged her which caused the Elemental Master to gasp and rapidly blush a shade of red close to his hair.

"H-Hey...you..you're welcome! Now go study!" she ushered him out of her room and shut the door.

As soon as he was out she turned her back to the door leaned against it calming her drum-like heart and trying to stop herself from giving a smile worth 1000 watts of energy quicky remembered the ritual Elsword has to go through if he wants to become a Rune a saddened expression made it's way again onto her face,but this wasn't the time for sad thoughts she had to prepare herself for Elsword's ritual,so she had research to do involving that.

Elsword having been kicked out quite literally couldn't help but think "Maybe I took it too far with the hug...Hope she doesn't hate me for that now"he took his new books having been quite intrigued by the new Rune Slayer concept,he set his mind towards becoming one.

"Right, now I have to learn about these guys and also I should at least know some basic fire runes!" He fist pumped the air and mentally thanked Aisha once more for her help.

R&R please...also started at 1:18 AM ended at 5:28 AM,GO ME!


	2. Day 00

Here are the classes:

Els:Magic Knight (laterz) Rune Slayer

Aisha:Elemental Master

Raven:Blade Master

Chung:Deadly Chaser

Eve:Code Nemesis

Rena:Night Watcher

Laur:Thank you guys/gals so much for the reviews,basically I woke up then checked this :D (I do have a life it's just not here yet xD)I'll answer them here because I can't do it privately yet!

Orithia Windbell:You're giving me too much credit here /blush/ but no,I was kinda bored and I wanted to do this for a while and there you have it.

Tsurara-Oihawa Chan:SO that's what they meant with the double spacing XD I truly am a n00b here,English is not my native language but I try not to make mistakes,when you see them please point them out! :D /shakes back/

PikaChibi:Nah I'm a "idea-bashes-against-my-skull-let's-write-it-nao" kind of writer.

AishaElementalMaster:Oh come on noww,for the sake of the story let's pretend there is a rune named Flash,how awkward would it be if Aisha started casting meteor shower in her bedroom XD,also I never thought Aisha herself would be reading my story.

Laur:ALSO,HOW DO YOU EDIT STORIES? I NOTICED MY MISTAKES! *~*'

–-

T/Day 00

Ever since receiving those large books from Aisha,Elsword locked himself in his room studied them without was hunched over his desk with a pencil and a blank paper in front of him,the pencil and the paper were for rune practicing,or so he thought,the book he was currently reading was titled simply "History of the Rune Slayers" It detailed their origins,and training methods,which for Elsword were young Magic Knight spent the rest of the day and night finishing that book,but to his dismay no information about actual Rune drawing was closed the book with a groan.

"This is gonna be hard..." Was all he said before he started on another book without pause.

This time he was sure to pick one that had information on actually drawing the Runes,he hoped for a Rune catalog of sorts,yet all he got was basic information on the base components of a he found out,a Rune was formed of a circle,on the inner-sides of the circle you'd have to write the Rune description, such as the type and what would you want the rune to create,rune types were of three kinds,protective type,enhancement type,and attack type,Elsword quickly dismissed the protective type from his mind thinking he can very well just enchant his blade with his fire element and use it to block incoming attacks,even if his body-frame didn't show it,Elsword had quite the strength in his also found out Runes were dependent on the elements,fire,ice,lightning,etc.

"Well I got fire down pretty nicely if I do say so myself."He grinned to himself and continued reading.

What he read next made him feel more uneasy than ever,apparently to become a Rune Slayer and to awaken the ability to draw Runes he would have to undergo a ritual,the specifics of the ritual were not specified,all there was regarding it was a simple statement.

"Beware those who want to follow the path of the Runes,for if you fail,you'll lose both mind and body,both memory and you attempt this road,think of those that put their very being in your care" Was written in purple ink,as if to stand out from the other text.

Elsword wasn't as much as a idiot as one would judge by his personality, he realized right away what that last line meant,and so he picked himself up from his desk and stretched his now tired limbs from the hunched position he had over the book. He has never felt more afraid,this path was about to cost him everything.

"Maybe I should go get something to eat.."He thought while he opened the door and started heading downstairs,but suddenly Raven started speaking about him which caused him to stop dead in his tracks,he knew eaves-dropping on his friends was wrong,but he couldn't help himself,he glued his back towards the wall and quietly listened.

Downstairs,the Elgang gathered in the living room,Raven and Chung were relaxing on the couch after a day of training and sparring with each-other,Eve was quietly sitting in an armchair with Moby and Reby in her lap, Rena and Aisha were occupying the free bean bag chairs and were simply watching television,even though a tint of sadness was visible on both of their faces.

"Hey..you guys think Els is all right?" Raven said leaning himself on the couch,looking at the ceiling. "He kind of seems out of it."

"Y-Yeah..I'm worried about him,he did lock himself in his room for almost a full day now,he didn't even come out to eat" Rena added.

"Just what IS he doing in his room? I'm going to check!"Chung said as he got up from his spot on the couch,and started going towards the stairs.

"N-No!...Stop,let him be."Aisha got up herself from her place and stopped Chung "It's for his own good,he'll come out when he's ready!" the mage had a confident look on her face "He always did pull through 's just how Elsword is,so please leave him alone for now"

Hearing this Elsword chose to finally go to the first floor meeting with was thinking it's better to reassure them he was fine,after all they were there for him,and keeping them all in the dark just felt wasn't fair for them.

"Hey guys."He said flashing a grin,trying very hard to mask what's on his mind."What's up?"

Suddenly everyone stopped and looked at him,Aisha quickly tried to change the subject of their previous discussion.

"Hey Els,you hun-" Raven got up from his seat and walked towards his friend. "What are you thinking?" his stern look was piercing the redhead.

"What do you mean Raven?" the redhead stepped backwards and looked away from the older man.

"You know damn well what I mean,why are you worrying us like this?,putting me and Chung aside,why do you worry THEM like this?" His words were rough as he pointed towards Rena and Aisha "Do you think you're the only one that was alone?" he grabbed the boy by his collar "Don't get me wrong,I mean no harm,but what you're doing is pissing me off! Each of us lost something and to get it back we had to trust each-other!" the dark haired man let go of the young knight.

"H-Hey...Raven" that's enough Rena said as she walked behind him. "Elsword...we just want you to know that whatever you pick,we'll support you."

"Double that!" Chung gave him a thumbs up.

Eve who was also looking towards the redhead,broke her usual poker-face and gave him a curtly smile.

Aisha just had an earnest smile on her face and a faint blush could be seen or her face,luckily for her no-one noticed that.

"Th-thanks guys...I'm going to get some air."the redhead quickly tried to walk past Raven and leave through the front door while looking away from them.

A small tch could be heard from Raven as he grabbed his arm while he walked past him.

"Raven!"Aisha walked towards the black haired man "Let him.."

"Fine,but if he can't get past his stupid lone-wolf mentality he won't be able to do anything." Raven let go of his arm and went upstairs at the same time Elsword left through the front door.

"...I'll go after him."Chung said calmly as he tried to follow Elsword's steps.

"No...wait I have to tell you guys something..."Aisha started, looking at her feet,her nervousness obvious to the rest.

"Aisha..what do you mean?"Rena asked the mage.

"Eve,what does your database have about Rune Slayers?" Aisha asked the Nasod Queen.

Eve brought up her screen and quick taps could be heard in the silence of the room.

"Looks like a Rune Slayer is a warrior that uses runes of high level to his aid in combat,Rune Slayers are said to be able to cast runes with a flick of their fingers,but most of them are said to be 's about it,surprisingly Rune Slayer information is pretty rare."

"That's what I thought."the mage spoke.

"What's this about Rune Slayers?" Rena asked looking confused.

"Elsword wants to become a Rune Slayer...That's not the point...The point is that in order to become a Rune Slayer,one has to go through a quite like the one that happened when Els had to unlock his magical-potential back in ..."She came to a stop.

"Well...What?"Chung urged her to continue.

"The reason Rune Slayers are so rare is because of the ritual...They have to overcome their biggest fears,and accept that possibly their darkest fears could become a reality,the trial is said to be so hard on the mind,that if it fails the one that underwent the ritual might lose control of his actions and get absorbed by raw power..."She concluded still avoiding their gazes.

"Aisha,you know how Elsword is,"Chung tried to reassure her "he'd charge forwards despite any danger,and he would still emerge victorious.

"That's not it Chung,I know that probably he wouldn't mind the danger, but, there's more,even the one that helps him undergo the ritual by sustaining the magic is not safe,as the helper will act as a catalyst for his ritual,the helper will go into a trance along with Elsword as an observer,he would be able to talk to Elsword,but if he fails his trial..then the helped would be lost too..."

"So if Elsword fails his trial you're both lost?" Eve put it bluntly.

"Y-Yeah..."Aisha felt a hand on her shoulder,causing her to look towards Chung who gave him a reassuring smile.

"Then...Go talk to him,tell him … well I guess you yourself know best what to tell Elsword to keep his thoughts clear." he gave her a wink and went upstairs.

"Hey,Aisha..."Rena said with a smile "This one's on you,if you're going to help Elsword,you're gonna have him regain his confidence,not for him,but for both of you." the elf concluded as she went and plopped herself on the couch.

Inside Aisha's head was a mess of thoughts and feelings,but she pushed it all aside,she remembered the lively Els,the one that would argue with her without holding grudges,the one that would apologize deeply after accidentally making her cry,the one that would never give up no matter the he needed was a little push,she thought to herself as she turned towards the front door and started walking towards it,as she extended her hand towards the door knob a voice was heard.

"Aisha.."Started Eve "You're probably the only one that can bring the old Elsword back. Good luck." her eyes went back to her computer screen as Aisha muttered a quick thank you and left through the door.

Once she got outside Aisha's eyes darted from place to place trying to spot Elsword through the night,thankfully today was a full moon,so it wasn't quite as dark as it could've slowly made way towards the gang's training grounds looking for Elsword,she hoped he was around hacking away at some practice dummy as that was his way of blowing of steam,but he was nowhere to be felt her chest ache with what she thought was worry for the kept wandering around the house's grounds as she looked for the the end she found him,he was sitting on a partly wrecked fence staring at the Elemental Master slowly walked towards him,her heart strangely beating faster and faster as she aproached the boy.

"Hey." She muttered barely above a normal circumstances she would've yelled on top of her lungs trying to startle the redhead merely for amusing herself,now,she just couldn't bring herself to do it.

Elsword turned his head,acknowledging her presence,and saying nothing,scooted to the side making her room to sit next to him.

Aisha came closer and stood down on the fence next to him.

"Been a while since we've been outside during the night,I've kinda missed the sky."she said while looking looked upwards toward the sky.

"Guess so..." A simple response came from the redhead.

The wind gently blew around them with a refreshing breeze,as Elsword sighed he turned his head towards the face was calm and at peace,at one look you wouldn't think she has the personality of a volcano ready to errupt once you take a jab at her height for started remembering an argument they had a while back when he teased her on her height,she hastily responded by calling him an Eldork and slapping him with teary eyes,leaving a mark visible for a couple of then spent the next week apologizing to her.

Elsword was broken from his memory as he noticed he was now staring at her. The mage's face was now turned towards him with a raised eyebrow.

"What? Is something on my face?"Aisha awkwardly asked,checking her face with one hand and supporting herself with the other.

"N-No..."He responded as he looked away,nervousness obvious in his tone.

"H-Hey...Aisha."Elsword started as he looked into her eyes. "Are you worried?"

"Hmm? About what?"the mage answered pretending to not know what he meant.

"About..you know...the ritual..and stuff.."he looked away from her his red eyes turning darker.

"Hmm..." She took her time answering, "No."

Elsword's head jerked up once he heard her response, "Why not?"

"Because...it's you we're talking about here..." as she said that she put her hand over heart was beating rapidly and she could feel the heat rising to her face,but even if normally she would ask herself if she was sane,being like this with Elsword made her feel calm for her it wasn't awkward at all.

Elsword upon feeling her hand on top of his quickly looked downwards,but he didn't jerk his hand away.

"Hey...Els,Can I ask you something?" Her voice was heard again,and Elsword looked directly into her eyes, who were shining brightly,he felt captivated,but he wouldn't look away even if he could.

"How many times did you save me?...In our travels?" she quietly continued looking downwards. " I mean...every time something would break my defenses,you'd be there to help me...You always kept an eye out for me,even if I was mean or we argued before...You always seemed to come to my aid when I needed it whenever you did something reckless in battle you'd always worry me...but you'd always apologize afterwards." She felt her heard beating faster and faster,the heat from her cheeks rising and she fought to keep back tears. "And...for that I'll always trust you,so don't worry about the ritual,because I have complete confidence in you!" she gave him a teary grin.

"I can't NOT worry."he answered,his voice getting louder "I can't not worry,because,it's not just me this time,in battle,when I do something reckless,no one gets injured except for me,and even then I do it so you guys don't have to get hurt." He was almost screaming as he felt tears roll down his cheeks. "Now...It's not just me,it's YOU too,and I can't stand the thought of you getting hurt because of me..." Saying that he grabbed her hand and pulled her into a hug, he then whispered something "I just can't..."

Aisha felt herself get embraced by Elsword,and it felt so … right for it to happen."Don't yourself as much as I trust you...and you...no both of us will pull through it" She said as she returned the hug.

The Mage and the Knight stood like that for a few minutes after which they let go of eachother. But their hands never left one-another and after some time Aisha's head found it's way onto Elsword's shoulder. Feeling her leaning against him he glanced at her face,the young mage fell redhead couldn't keep himself from staring at her sleeping face,as the chilly air made her breath visible, The Knight took the petite Mage into his arms and carried her inside the house,thankfully everyone was in their rooms so he could avoid possible teasing from his carried the girl to her room where he laid her gently on her bed.

"How did I get you to trust me so much,that you're willing to put your life on the line for me?" he said to no-one in particular.

"You're back I see." Elsword suddenly heard a voice from behind him.

"I guess I am." He responded without turning.

"You know,she trusts you that remains is for you to trust yourself with can overcome anything during that ritual." The voice continued,in a serious but kind tone. "So hurry up,we'll be waiting for you,for both of you!"

Elsword smiled hearing this and as he turned towards the voice he spoke.

"Hey Raven,thanks!"

The older man simply smiled at him and gave him a nod before disappearing from headed towards his room and as he entered he took a glance towards the pile of books that was on his locked his door and got ready for a good night's sleep.

LaurXD: R&R, this was so much fun to write! I appreciate every review I get and will answer each one!


	3. Day 01

Here are the classes:

Els:Magic Knight (laterz) Rune Slayer

Aisha:Elemental Master

Raven:Blade Master

Chung:Deadly Chaser

Eve:Code Nemesis

Rena:Night Watcher

Els:YOU STUPID IDIOT! HOW DID YOU MANAGE TO UPLOAD A STORY IN BOLD TEXT?!No more bold text for you,ever!

Laur:Well never mind that I fixed it...after an hour...also some words have been eaten out...they appear on my original document but not on my story, I gave it a second reading and think I fixed them but if you notice something among sentences that seem to stop half-way through do notify me.

On a side note,thank you guys so much for the reviews I've been getting,even you random guest named 3!

–-

**T/Day 01**

In the morning, the Elgang was having breakfast. Everyone was there, well, everyone except was quietly eating his food but every-so-often he would take a glance at Aisha's empty chair when he thought no one was looking. Unfortunately for him, Rena noticed and an idea sprung inside the elf's mind. She gave Chung a swift kick under the table causing the poor boy to choke with his juice, she then slowly bobbed her head towards Elsword and the empty chair all while giving Chung a sweet smile.

Chung was confused at Rena's antics. "What's up with her so early in the morning." He thought to himself. He did notice the absence of the mage, he'd be blind not to, but he just couldn't figure out what Rena wanted him to he was sure of was that it had to do with Elsword ,suddenly realization hit him, he gave Rena a confident nod as he started talking to the Magic Knight.

"Yo Els!" Chung started. "Mind going and waking Aisha up?" as he finished saying that,everyone's eyes turned towards Elsword,who in return started fidgeting.

"W-why me?, Can't Rena do it?" he tried pulling himself out of Chung's request.

"Oh, come on, Rena cooked us breakfast,are you going to ask her to do this too?" Chung put emphasis on the last word.

"Ah, fine,get of my case already...Jeez." Elsword said while standing up and walking towards the second floor.

The redhead stopped at the mage's door and knocked, once, nothing, twice, still nothing. He then decided to walk in anyways. In the clean room his eyes fixated on the sleeping mage,her messy hair spread across the pillow and light beating against the curtains from the window that was right next to her bed was soft enough so it wouldn't bother her, but bright enough so it would light her face up almost as in she was as fragile as a simple touch could break her. Elsword's mind drew a blank, he was so captivated upon seeing the sleeping mage he didn't even realise he was now sitting on the edge of her bed, hand outstretched towards her face. As he gently touched her cheek ,he was surprised at how soft her skin was, his hand lingered on her cheek a moment too much ,as the mage's eyes fluttered open. Upon seeing the redhead, in her room, with his hand touching her face, the mage did the only logical thing she could do, she started screaming while blushing a fierce red.

"ELSWORD , YOU PERVERT! WHY ARE YOU TOUCHING ME WHILE I'M SLEEPING?" Aisha yelled, and with a swift hand motion slapped the knight off her bed. She was surprised but she instantly regreted doing what she did.

"W-WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" Elsword yelled back while holding his cheek. " HOW AM I A PERVERT BY TRYING TO WAKE YOU UP SO YOU CAN EAT BREAKFAST WITH US?"

He turned his back to her, while holding his cheek and saying " Just come eat...okay?" and he left through the door, letting Aisha get ready for the day.

Upon walking down the stairs Elsword could still hear the laughter of his friends. As he re-joined them at the table Chung asked failing to hide the amusement from his voice.

"How'd it go?"

Elsword didn't reply, instead he gave Chung a certain gesture with a certain finger, which caused Raven to burst out laughing and Rena to turn her eyes away from him while giggling.

"What does that mean?" asked Eve surprising the redhead who didn't know how to answer that question.

" It means he appreciates me as a friend. " Chung quickly answered. Trying to hold back laughter.

"Y-yeah!" Elsword quickly added, "I appreciate him so much right now that I'm going to show it to him with both hands!" and he did just that, causing Raven to laugh even harder and Chung to start laughing as well.

"A sign of appreciation, huh?" Eve said as she mimicked Elsword's gesture, this time towards the red knight himself.

Everyone at the table started laughing at that,well everyone except Eve who didn't know what the cause was, and Elsword who just wanted to eat and get away from his mischievous friends.

Aisha soon joined her friends at the table and was a bit confused as to why Rena tried explaining Eve the true meaning of "the Finger" all while Raven was laughing his lungs out.

After breakfast Chung and Raven went to train, and while Eve and Rena wanted to go to Velder to shop for the various things they needed in the kitchen and outside of it, arrows, ammo for Chung, spare parts for Eve's drones, Aisha handed them a message for Grail. The message contained a list of items Aisha needed for Elsword's ritual among other potions the team needed for use.

After the two girls left the house Aisha turned towards Elsword who was lazily sitting in the couch.

"You should pack your things you know?" She started while leaning on the couch's back. "We can't do the ritual here, we have to be someplace high and with a rather strong magic presence. I was thinking we should go to the altar in Feita. " The mage sighed "And Els...Sorry for slapping you like that, you just...surprised me being so close and...all" a slight blush made its way to the mage's face.

"E...erm don't worry about it..." He awkwardly waved a hand as if to reassure her, then he sat up from the couch, "What should I pack?" he asked.

"The usual for a quest...most of the items will be arriving with Rena and Eve because I don't have the things required for a ritual like that stockpiled around here."

"Okay then!" He gave her his signature confident grin as he ran upstairs to his room.

"How I've missed seeing that smile..." Aisha softly said to no one in particular.

Outside the house, on the training grounds, the sound of fighting could be heardas the two friends locked arms against each other.

Chung crossed his Silver Shooters above his head, blocking a downwards attack coming from Raven. "Hey, Raven, do you think those two would be all right?" Chung asked while rolling away from the black haired man and into a crouching position, he then took out his Destroyer and launched two shots against the BladeMaster. (AN: I'm completely against them yelling the name of their attacks)

The older man dodged the first cannon shot and deflected the second with his nasod arm. "Yeah, Elsword's gonna pull through that ritual, he won't allow Aisha to get hurt because of him." Raven answered Chung's previous question, he then started dashing towards the Deadly Chaser while deflecting the bullets he shot at him with his sword.

Seeing his mad dash towards him, Chung shot the Destroyer at the ground pulling himsel upwards into the air and started unleashing a barrage of bullets towards Raven who in defense shadow stepped forwards and leaped after him grabbing the deadly chaser by his feet with his nasod arm and throwing him towards the ground. Chung's armor took most of the damage but he did get a nice shake from Raven's dusted himself up and charged at the BladeMaster, Destroyer in hand he kept whacking him with his massive cannon, every blocked hit pushed the BladeMaster backwards. Seeing this Chung effortlessly leaped with his Destroyer swinging his massive cannon downwards. Raven blocked that hit too,but the force brought him to his knees.

"H-Hey Chung," Raven grunted, " Are you worried about them? "

Chung stopped his attack and put the Destroyer in its usual place, on his back " Now that I think about it...No,Aisha's safer with him than she is with any of us."

"But you know... he doesn't know what he'll face during his ritual." Raven said in a matter-of-factly tone.

"Don't worry. If it's for her he'll pull through.." Chung responded as he walked towards a patch of grass and sat down.

"Yeah..you're right, I remember when I first joined this group," the black haired man said with a clear face while sitting down next to Chung, "they broke the arm's control over me and I remember once when we were camping out and Aisha heard some rustling in a bush and went to check it " he said while snickering "and-and a raccoon came out and sneered at her-" Raven was now holding his sides trying to stop himself from laughing while Chung had an amused grin and was listening intently "So she fell on her butt and Elsword ran towards the raccoon to shoo it away but it jumped on his face and he tripped and fell flat on his belly " Raven and Chung then both started laughing, "But after that Aisha went and helped him up..she was really blushing at that..You know, those two share quite a bond..that's why I'm not worried." Raven finished.

"Yeah,you're right,hey want to get something to eat?" Chung rose to his feet and walked towards the house, Raven following suit.

Inside the house they found Aisha sitting on the couch while watching television, upon entering she rose to her feet and turned to the guys.

"Hey,when Rena comes from Velder, tell her to bring the items that I requested to my room I have to make preparations for the ritual" and with that she left for her room without waiting a response from the two guys.

"Meh " Raven shrugged, "Come on I know where Rena keeps the bacon strips. " he motioned eagerly for Chung to follow.

"And how would you know that?" Chung just muttered to himself.

The rest of the day went by without anything special happening,and so, at around eight o'clock, Rena and Eve returned from their trip to Velder all packed with the items they bought. Elsword, Chung and Raven offered to help them with their shopping, help that was gratefully accepted by the two girls.

"Ah by the way Rena,Aisha asked you to deliver those "items" she requested in her room." Chung said to the tired elf, her response was blunt.

"Can't. Make Elsword do it." As she started preparing dinner for the group with Eve.

"Elswoooord" Chung yelled after the redhead who scampered away upon hearing Rena's idea.

" !" Was all Elsword said, arms folded against his chest " Last time I went inside her room, she called me a pervert and slapped me!"

"Ah come on Els, all you have to do is leave the bag in her room and leave." Chung reassured him.

"Fine!" the redhead puffed and took the bag with the strange things Aisha wanted and started going upstairs.

In Aisha's room,the sound of water splashing could be heard,the mage was relaxing herself by taking a bath while she waited for Rena to come home so she could finally start packing for the road towards Feita's Altar. From her bathroom she heard a knocking on the door,so she answered simply

" In a minute!" she then got up from the tub and wrapped herself in a towel, left the bathroom and headed towards the bedroom door. She grabbed the door knob and thinking she'll see Rena standing there she started greeting her

"Hey Rena what took you so- " She froze upon seeing Elsword at her door, holding a bag in his hand.

Elsword saw the door opening but what he saw next shocked hm beyond words, his mind drew the second blank in two days, the petite mage was standing there, wrapped in a towel, with damp disheveled hair a fierce blush covering her face once the door was fully opened.

"OH...Elsword...It's you... NOT Rena..." she managed to say as she took a step forwards trying to get the bag from his hand.

"You...can let go of it now!." but he didn't, his hand was holding the bag Rena gave him and he slowly raised it towards Aisha. Then suddenly his vision blurred and he blacked out falling forwards on the small mage. "Cute.." Was all he said,voice barely above a whisper.

"EEK!" Aisha shrieked as the redhead suddenly fell limp on top of her with his eyes closing.

She didn't call her friends from downstairs for help, that would be just asking for continuous teasing so she wrestled herself from under his body, her face redder than his hair and pulled him inside, she then locked the door.

The girl wanted to change her clothes but she didn't know when Elsword would wake up, so as a precaution she took one of her socks and tied it around his head covering his eyes. "I'm not proud of this..." she quickly said under her breath. Aisha quickly searched for a pair of pants and a t-shirt she could wear, in a couple of seconds she found a pair of purple baggy pants and a matching t-shirt and she started getting dressed. As soon as she pulled her pants up she heard movement coming from Elsword.(AN: She found underwear too but like hell I'm describing that!)

"Els? Don't take it off!" Was all she had time to say but it was too late.

The boy was holding his forehead and upon noticing his vision was impaired he quickly removed Aisha's sock from his eyes. He then looked straight at the mage who had her chest covered by her hands and had yet to turn herself away from him.

In a flash Elsword remembered fainting as he saw Aisha in nothing but a towel,but now seeing her half naked in front of him something worse happened. He got a fierce nose-bleed, after which he fell on his side blacking out again.

"Oh god.." Aisha quickly put her t-shirt on and ran to the bathroom getting a towel to wipe the poor boy's face and the blood from the floor.

After a couple of minutes of nothingness Elsword came head was hurting and he was laying on Aisha's floor while she was watching him from the side of her bed.A blush rivalling his hair color made way to his face. It was safe to assume that the same shade of red covered her face as well.

He promptly got up and and tried to say something but Aisha spoke before him.

"Don't try to...apologize, it was my fault ..Let's go downstairs...the rest are probably wondering what's keeping you so much in here." Her blush got deeper,if that was even possible.

"R-right." He turned around and opened the door, Aisha following behind him.

As they reached the first floor everyone's eyes were upon them,they were, after all tomato red.

"What happened?" Rena asked,leaning over the kitchen counter.

"N-Nothing." Unison response, they both blushed harder.

"Fine,I'll drop it for now..." Rena gave the duo a mischievous smile "Dinner's ready anyways."

The gang took their seats at the table, Rena occasionally snickering when she took a glance at Elsword or Aisha's faces. Aisha was the first one to finish, mostly because she ate smaller portions than she got up she said to Elsword who was busy stuffing food into his mouth

"Tomorrow we'll leave for the Altar at Feita, okay Els?"

"Um,Yeah, of course!" he managed to say between bites.

"Ah, Aisha wait up!" Rena quickly got up from her seat. "I'll come with!" She cheerfully grinned at the mage.

The two left for the second floor leaving Elsword, Chung, Raven and Eve at the table.

"So...Elkid" Raven started in a teasing tone which took Elsword by surprise causing him to choke on his bread. "What were you two doing up there for twenty minutes when you were supposed to take not more than five dropping off that bag?"

"N-nothing." Elsword started waving his arms around defensively "I guarantee you i-it was nothing."

"Then." Chung said in the same tone which strangely fit him "Why were you two tomato red?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"We weren't! You guys are seeing things." Elsword quickly dismissed his friend's argument.

As soon as he said that however, Eve's screen flashed open with a recording of the two coming from the second floor, red obvious on their faces.

"You say you weren't?" Chung stifled a laugh.

"...Photoshop!"Elsword quickly left the table and bound for his bedroom, His comment made the trio at the table start laughing.

As he passed Aisha's room he heard Rena's hearty laugh from behind the door, he could only imagine Aisha's face as she was telling Rena what happened...And then he blushed again.

As he went into his room,the redhead got ready for bed.

That night,Elsword had one of the weirdest dreams he ever had, it was frightening for the young knight.

In his dream he would wake up normally, yet when he tried to climb out of his bed, a man appeared before him. The man had his back turned to Elsword and his hands were in his pockets. From what Elsword saw the man wore black slacks of a material Elsword had never seen before,on his torso he had a blood red vest and a white shirt,his hair was white and seemed gelled backwards. Then, in a deep voice, the man spoke.

"I understand you intend to become a Rune Slayer, am I correct young Magic Knight?"

Still standing on the edge of his bed Elsword couldn't respond.

"I shall take your silence as a yes."

He took a hand from his pocket gesturing next to him, in an instant an image of Aisha appeared there.

"Are you willing to put her at risk for it?"

Elsword upon setting his eyes on his friend finally mustered up the will to rise to his feet.

"She won't be at any risk!" answered in a determined tone.

"Hmm..She won't be at any risk you say..." The man half turned to him and put a hand through his hair. "How can you be so certain?"

"I won't let it happen." Same tone,the man saw something resembling fire into the boy's eyes.

"Hmm...She is dear to you is she not?" He was now fully facing Elsword.

"I...I don't know." the boy replied looking downwards.

"Let's change the subject..for now." he motioned to the boy " Follow me " as he left his room.

As he left through the door Elsword half-expected he'd end up in the usual hallway...instead.. he appeared at the Altar,in Feita. Back when Berthe was still alive.

"Do you know why I brought you here?" the man was facing away from Elsword again. "Come next to me."

As a puppet the redhead wandered to the man's right. He heard him flick his fingers, and in a swift motion a series of events started taking place in front of saw himself and his friends facing Berthe, he remembered the battle had won, Aisha was injured very bad.

Then before his eyes was that very moment, Berthe had hit Chung with his tail and slammed him into a nearby blue demon then started dashing towards Rena but Elsword got in his way and slammed his sword against his then flanked the monster and Shadow stepped past him, a flurry of blade marks showing on the monster's skin.

Visibly wounded Berthe used some sort of magic calling forth icicles that bursted around him hitting Elsword directly and knocking Raven into Rena who was trying to aim towards the giant's eyes.

He then turned towards the Mage, who was channeling her strongest attack Meteor Shower. Aisha then released the energy she gathered and gigantic rocks started collapsing onto the demon. He blocked the first two,but got hit by the third one directly, he then understood what Aisha was doing and using his tail he grabbed her forcing her to stop her mage squirmed in the monster's grasp as he brought her to his thought she was done for, but in a flash, a red blur appeared in front of her, flaming sword in hand and cut off the monster's tail.

The redhead's eyes were redder than before, as he walked towards the injured monster he blocked his Ice attacks with ease, then with a loud yell he rushed the monster striking it with all his might.A gigantic blade erupted from what seemed like Elsword himself. The blade itself was surrounded by 3 more blades on each side, who then started spinning in a vortex catching the monster and impaling it ultimately killing then rushed over to the fallen mage,and picked her in his arms.

The image was left staring at complete nothingness as he heard the man speak again.

"Is she dear to you?" He asked again. And with another flick of his fingers he showed Elsword yet another event.

After the battle,Aisha was brought back by Elsword to the refugee camp. She had her injuries treated and she was laying on a hospital bed inside a tent,Elsword never left her side.

"Why didn't you leave?"the man inquired.

"She never did leave me when I did something reckless..."

"Indeed she didn't" another flick of fingers and the event resumed.

Aisha fluttered her eyes open and seeing Elsword next to her she hugged him tightly.

"What did you feel then?" the man asked.

"I...I felt … wanted." the boy simply responded.

Another flick of fingers and Elsword was brought back a couple of days ago,the moment when the two of them were standing on the wrecked fence,one in the other's arms.

"What did you feel then?" the man asked once again.

"Afraid." The boy gritted his teeth.

"Why?" simple question followed.

"Because..she'd put herself at risk,for me.I never wanted that." A tear fell down his cheek and the man flicked his fingers turning everything to black.

"Then let me ask again. Is she dear to you?"

"Yes."Elsword admitted looking straight into the man's eyes.

"Then .. What are you most afraid of?" and while flicking his fingers,Elsword woke up it was morning, nine o'clock to be specific,it was time he and Aisha left for Feita.

R&R

Laur:This is so much fun, I never expected writing up stories to be so amazing! Time flew really quickly,I intended this to be a filler chapter,but then the dream idea struck me and I just had to write it up XD!


	4. Day 02

Here are the classes:

Els:Magic Knight (laterz) Rune Slayer

Aisha:Elemental Master

Raven:Blade Master

Chung:Deadly Chaser

Eve:Code Nemesis

Rena:Night Watcher

Els:YOU STUPID IDIOT!...how did you manage to do it twice in a row...how did you manage to bold it up again? /facepalms.

Laur: I have no ideeaaaaaaa :( I shall never use bold again!. Fixed it before someone noticed though! Also I've decided not to add R&R at the end, since for this particular day, it'll ruin the moment.

Also towards the awesome person that keeps reviewing under the name of 3, thanks a about what mistakes I might make, I tend to rely on my document's auto correct a lot so if there are no red lines I think it's written correctly. Onwards with the chapter!

–-

T/ Day 02

Elsword just stood there,laying in his bed for god knows how long just staring at his ceiling, he knew this was the day he and Aisha were supposed to go to Feita, but the dream he had the night before raised so many questions inside his was the man that he saw? How could he have known what happened in his life? Even the private moments no one was supposed to know those questions, Elsword was sure of one thing. He cared about Aisha in "a more than friends" way.

The redhead was knocked out of his thoughts by a knock on his slowly got off his bed as he approached the opening it he saw Aisha wearing her promotion clothes, her face still bearing the marks of sleep.

"The guys let us sleep in,for whatever reason." The mage said while stifling a yawn. "Go eat, I'll be checking my pack to see if I forgot anything, then we'll start going towards Feita."

"Y-Yeah.." Suddenly, Elsword wasn't quite as motivated as the day before. He still felt a pang of guilt about making Aisha come to Feita and doing the ritual with him. While looking at his feet he asked the mage. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Don't be silly. Of course I do." Was her response in a cheery voice. Those words gave Elsword enough strength to push all his doubts away.

"Okay then, I'll go have breakfast then I'll grab my things and come get you!" Elsword gave her a thumbs up and his signature grin. He then bolted towards the kitchen.

The house was was strange, as far as Elsword knew, there wasn't a quest pending for the gang, and even if there was, it surely didn't need four men to complete. The boy briefly wondered about his friends' whereabouts but quickly dismissed that thought. His need for food was more important at the moment.

It took him about ten minutes to settle his hunger, and as he was cleaning his plate he heard the front door opening. The boy turned around and leaned over the kitchen counter to see who entered the house. It was Eve.

The silver haired girl turned towards him and gave Elsword a morning greeting. The boy responded with a question.

"Hey Eve,where's everyone?"

"Outside."Simple response came from the nasod queen.

"What are they doing outside?" Said the redhead as he tried going past Eve to reach the front door.

"You'll find out soon enough." She answered as she blocked his way. "Don't you have a trip to get ready for?"

"Y-Yeah..You're right." Elsword thought Eve's behaviour was a little strange,but he decided to let it go. On second thought his brain sprung an idea. He turned his back to Eve and started walking towards the stairs, then he suddenly turned around and dashed straight for the door.

Ultimately his plan failed. As his face connected to Eve's slap causing him to fly over the couch.

"O-OKAY! GOT IT!" Elsword got up and held his cheek. "GOING TO GET READY NOW!" as he left for his room. Leaving Eve alone in front of the door. When he was out of her field of view the nasod queen gave a small sigh. "Elsword..."

Still holding his cheek the boy walked into his room and got his bag he prepared before hand. Without bothering to double-check its contents. He then made his way towards Aisha's room and knocked. The mage's response was immediate.

"Come in." Was heard from behind the door. And he did just that.

Inside the room was dark,Aisha could be seen stranding in front of her desk, with a book In her hands. She slowly traced the title of the book with her fingers as she got her bag and put it inside. For a second her eyes were distant,but as she turned towards Elsword, she asked with a cheery voice.

"Ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be!" Was his answer. But deep inside he knew he still had conflicts to settle. He also knew he'd better get to clearing his mind fast.

As the two made their way towards the first floor, Elsword noticed that Eve wasn't there, he briefly wondered where his friends might be,and as if reading his thoughts Aisha asked just that.

"Where could everyone be?"

Elsword didn't have time to answer as he opened the door and saw everyone waiting for them. From left to right were Rena Chung Raven and Eve.

"Hey guys,I made this for your trip, enjoy!" Rena gave them a cheery smile and held a package in front of them. "It's food for your lunch!" She quickly added.

"Food?!" Elsword eyes were glued to the package wrapped neatly in cloth. He was close to drooling.

"Elsword...Haven't you eaten something just three minutes ago?" Aisha asked the redhead while taking the package from Rena. "Thank you, Rena we appreciate it." the mage thanked the elf.

"Sorry guys, we don't have anything to give you." Raven said while awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

"But we can tell you this." Chung interfered. "No matter what happens. Come back safely. No one will look down upon you if you decide not to go through with it."

"Hey guys...you know me.I never back down!" Elsword gave them a thumbs up. "Even more so, I'm more motivated because it's not just me going through danger."

Aisha was quietly watching her friends. As tears started welling up in her eyes.

"Y-You guys.." Was all she could mutter before Rena gave her a hug.

"That's right Els, It's not just you." Raven put a hand on his shoulder. "So make sure you watch out for her!"

"Bet your nasod arm I will!" At his response,Raven snickered. "Still, be carefull."

"Come back safely,both of you. I can't wait to see what this thing will do for you." Chung raised his punch to bro-fist Elsword who did the same.

Eve quietly watched her friends say their goodbyes. The queen wasn't good at this sort of things so she bluntly made her opinion heard.

"Why are you humans so emotional. Judging by his past actions Elsword will come back safely,both of them will."

Surprised, everyone looked at Eve,Aisha came closer to her and gave her a hug muttering a small thank you.

After that little scene, the mage and the knight took the path towards Feita. The road itself wasn't dangerous but it was boring to say the least, Elsword almost preferred the way it was before,at least like that he could slash a couple of monsters every now and then. Their time wasn't spend talking as Elsword was busy making heads or tails of his thoughts and Aisha was preparing herself for the ritual. The two would be reaching Feita at noon anyways, they wouldn't have time or the energy to perform the ritual and even if they wanted to do it, the said ritual could only be performed during the day, when the sun was at its highest point so the duo would have to wait until tomorrow anyways.

After three hours of walking Elsword started lingering behind, Aisha noticed this but decided against telling the boy to hurry up. She knew what he was going through, what kind of emotional stress he had to fight with. Yet the troubled face that he wore was the thing that worried her the she decided to get the redhead to tell what's on his mind.

On the other hand, in the boy's head there was a struggle, he kept telling himself not to let his feelings for Aisha to get out of hand. "It was all thanks to that stupid dream." he thought. One side of him was telling the boy to ignore his feelings for now and deal with them when time was right, however, the boy was afraid the time wouldn't have a chance to be right for the two of em. The other side was telling him he should come forth with his feelings, however Elsword was afraid of Aisha's rejection, something like that, he thought could put them at peril during his ritual. While he was lost in his thoughts he suddenly felt a hand against his chest. Finally starting paying attention to his surroundings he noticed Aisha was standing right in front of him,hand firmly planted against his chest.

"We. Eat. Now." Firm words came from the mage's mouth.

"B-but we still have quite a-ways to go, we can eat later." Elsword tried to argue.

"Okay, something's definitely not right with you. Sit and eat." She said while crossing her arms in front of him.

Eventually the boy gave in and the duo walked towards the side of the path on a more grassy area. They took out the package Rena gave them, and upon opening it they saw a variety of dishes, ranging from various meats to three different kinds of salads. (AN: can't describe food for the life of me.). Elsword dug in immediately despite him trying to argue with Aisha not to take a break for lunch, this caused Aisha to sigh as she started eating as well. As the two were eating, Elsword saw Aisha taking small glances at him, he noticed the worry in her eyes, yet decided against telling her what was on his mind, instead, he thought it was best if the two went on their way as soon as possible. He could tell her about his feelings at a later the two finished their meal they packed the leftovers and started walking again. Elsword hoped his friend wouldn't ask him about what's bothering him, too bad his friend was none other than the stubborn mage, so of course Aisha had to ask him about it.

Aisha grabbed his shirt gently and gave it a light pull. Elsword, upon feeling the tug, turned towards the mage.

"Hey Els,are you all right?" She asked the boy while looking away., as she was waiting for his response she unconsciously brought her hand to her mouth and bit her thumb. Elsword found the gesture to be extremely cute as a small blush spread across his face. He also found it hard forhis eyes to stop lingering on her lips.

"Yeah, of course, why wouldn't I be?" Best he could do at the moment was keeping his friend from worrying.

"I see something's on your mind...and... I was wondering if you'd like to talk about it. It's bad for you in our situation to keep stuff like this bottled up." Was her response.

Elsword couldn't stop himself before he grabbed her hand. The gesture caused Aisha to snap her eyes directly into his.

"Look...I know you're worried, it's just some stuff I have to sort out on my own" The boy sighed and continued "...so promise me this, when I want to talk about it, you'll listen no matter what! Okay?"

"Yeah! Of course!" Her eyes lit up brightly,as Elsword started walking ahead, his hand not letting go of hers.

"There goes my decision of putting off these thoughts for a later date." The knight thought as they kept walking hand in hand towards Feita.

Towards the end of the day, they reached the base of the Tower, the altar being at the top. While looking at it now, Elsword realized something, he never saw this place after they managed to drive out the monsters. The whole surrounding actually looked so peaceful, almost as if the monster's invasion never happened, however it has, and no matter how serene the placed looked now, it wouldn't bring back the ones that died trying to re-take it.

However the two weren't there for sight-seeing. As Aisha quickly snapped him from his thoughts.

"Hey Els, could you get some fire-wood so we can have a bit of light before we start setting up our tents?"

"Uh-uhm." The redhead let his backpack down near Aisha's and scampered away into the forest, quickly to return with a handful of sticks. He then prepared a small fireplace and light the fire up with his magic. Convenient, he thought. He was once more snapped away from admiring his handiwork by Aisha's small scream.

"Eeeehhh?" the mage slapped her forehead. " I forgot Rena usually has our tents with her... so I didn't bring one."

"Well... you can have mine." Elsword offered, "I can sleep outside or something." He awkwardly scratched his head as he sad that.

"Don't be silly. We can share." Aisha waved his offer away.

"B-but I brought a single person tent...not the big one, Raven usually carries that." He blushed at the thought of sharing a tent with Aisha. "And I forgot to bring a blanket...and a pillow...I thought my backpack wasn't as big as it was supposed to." Elsword added dumbly.

"Don't worry, I got extras!" the girl assured him. Then a thought entered her mind. "Wait...You don't want to be near me?" she thought outloud.

"N-N-NO!" Elsword raised his hands defensively. "That's not it, definitely NOT it!", Maybe I overreacted just now, the boy thought. But upon hearing his words Aisha perked up and came close to him. Elsword started turning red when he realised what she was doing. In front of him Aisha was on her tippy-toes and gave him a quick peck on his cheek.

"Thanks for sharing with me!"

"Y...Yeah...No worries." He responded while awkwardly looking away.

The two finished their leftover package from Rena, and made their way inside the tent. Aisha entered first, because she claimed she can't sleep in those clothes, so she had to change into something more comfortable. Meaning Elsword was left outside, listening to Aisha undressing then dressing herself, the images made way into his mind and another fierce blush made way on his face.

"It's okay now, you can enter." Aisha's voice was heard from inside the tent. So Elsword did just that.

Head first he entered through the front of the tent,but when he saw Aisha with her hair down, wearing some purple shorts and a simple pink T-shirt, the poor boy just blanked, and managed himself to stop with only half of his body inside the tent. All he could think was how cute she looked dressed like that.

"Come on...I don't bite..Usually." Aisha snapped him out of his daze as she said that. A small blush forming onto her face as well.

The knight was red in more ways than his hair, he completely entered the tent, and made his way next to Aisha. The girl scooted over and covered herself up with her blanket. Elsword took the other side of the tent as he picked the blanket the two were sharing and turned his back at the girl, trying to ignore the fact that Aisha was standing next to him, sharing the same blanket...wearing what she wore. It was going to be a long night for Els.

However the poor boy couldn't sleep, after having accidentally touched Aisha's back with his, receiving a small "eep" from the girl, he became more aware of her presence, causing him to stay straight as a plank. And as if that wasn't enough, the discussion he had with the girl during their trip popped back into his mind.

"_Look...I know you're worried, it's just some stuff I have to sort out on my own" __The boy sighed and continued "__...so promise me this, when I want to talk about it, you'll listen no matter what! Okay?" _

"_Yeah! Of course!" Her eyes lit up brightly,as Elsword started walking ahead, his hand not letting go of hers._

He decided he should bite the bullet.

"Aisha?" He asked without turning, half-hoping the girl was sleeping.

"Erm,Yes?" Came her response.

"Remember when I told you I have some stuff to sort out?..."

"Yes, Els..Want to talk about it?" After saying this, Elsword heard shuffling behind him, he could only imagine she turned to face him. Deciding it would be rude to talk to her like this, he turned on his back. However, due to this being a one person tent, after he did that the lack of space took it's toll. Meaning Aisha was forced to put her hand over his shoulder so she can be at least a little bit more confortable. Feeling her this close made the boy lose his already shabby train of thought, and he needed a couple of minutes to get used to what was happening.

And so Elsword started telling her about his dream, carefully omitting the parts where the man asked about her. He, however, was surprised how well Aisha could read him when she just muttered something.

"You're not telling me everything..." She looked hurt. Elsword felt himself forced to tell her everything.

"Yeah...you're right." He turned to face her, he wasn't sure of his actions but he decided to go with the moment. Aisha however didn't expect this, so she found herself staring straight into his crimson eyes.

"During that dream...The man asked about you...How I felt about you." He took a deep breath, his voice was shaking. " He showed me memories, and forced me to come clean with myself, about a lot of things, he forced me to realize I need you guys, I need you..."

"Els.." Aisha felt tears starting to form into her eyes.

"Don't cry.. I don't like to see you crying." He took his hand from under the covers and wiped her tears away. Aisha was startled by his action, but she took her own hand and caught his in hers.

"Aisha, after that dream, I realized something, something I've denied for a long time. When I asked myself why did I always watch over you, this answer came to mind, but I dismissed it, when I asked myself why do you always lash out at me when I do something reckless in fights, this answer came to mind, but I dismissed it, now, with so much on the line, I won't dismiss it any longer." He took a deep breath once more and intently looked into the girl's eyes. "Aisha, now, when everything's on the line, I have to tell you this, I love you." He brought his forehead next to her's and just looked at her. He knew this was shocking for her, but he also wanted an answer.

Aisha herself couldn't believe what was happening, she decided to go with her heart. She was also in a similar position as she often asked herself why was Elsword acting like he was with her, while he was teasing her, his eyes sparkled, when he apologized he always was sincere, when he came to her rescue he always did it despite all the risks. So the girl just folowed her heart.

"I...I do too, I love you too." Was the petite mage's response, said a little louder than a whisper.

"Good." The redhead continued. He felt relieved, he felt at peace. "Then do you mind?"

"Huh? What?" the girl asked, confused. Their position seemed natural to her, standing like this with their foreheads united, eyes locked made her feel safe, more-so she was close to the one that always watched over her, who finally admitted to his feelings. What he did next surprised her even more.

The boy inched his mouth closer and closer to her's, for a few days he desired the taste of her lips, and now, he could finally do it. Their lips connected, and for a second he was disappointed but that disappointment vanished as she started kissing back and he felt her smile underneath their kiss. It wasn't a wild kiss, but it was their first, and that alone, was enough for them.


	5. Day 03 - A Rune Slayer gets his Title

Here are the classes:

Els:Magic Knight (laterz) Rune Slayer / Infinity Sword, just appearance no Conwell!

Aisha:Elemental Master

Raven:BladeMaster/ Reckless Fist

Chung:Deadly Chaser/ Iron Paladin

Eve:Code Nemesis/Code Battle Seraph

Rena:Night Watcher/ Wind Sneaker

**Els: Laur,I'm serious, that idea is b-**

**Aisha: Elsword are you bothering my sweet, sweet author again?**

**Laur: Oh, stop it you!/ ****on a side note/ This chapter is supposedly what I've been building up to, and if you feel I didn't make it justice please let me know! I wanted to get a different take on the way classes get their second jobs. Please R&R **

******T/Day 03**

Morning found the two inside their tent still holding each other close. Aisha's hands rested on Elsword's chest while her head was on his shoulder. The boy was wide awake, he has been for quite some time, but seeing how the girl was sleeping so soundly next to him, he felt bad if he were to wake her up so he decided to let her keep sleeping. "She'll wake up when she wants to." He thought. The boy took advantage of her sleeping and tucked away a few strands of her hair behind her ear using his free hand. Her hair was soft and silky, as if to feel the contrast he moved his hand through his hair, his was spiky and rather rough, the thought of asking the girl what shampoo he uses crossed his mind before he mentally kicked himself about thinking of such trivial things when he still had a ritual to go through.

The boy felt movement on his side, and as he looked towards the girl he saw her eyes slowly opening. Upon realizing the position they were in Aisha tried to distance herself from him, but Elsword's arm stopped her from doing such a thing. She then looked straight into his eyes as a blush crept on her face.

"Good morning." Elsword casually said.

"Morning." Was her answer, delivered in a sleepy voice.

"Did ya sleep well?" the redhead asked stifling a chuckle.

"Meanie." As she said that she snuggled even closer to him and closed her eyes again.

"Now, now. Let's have breakfast and get this thing over with."

"Y-Yeah you're right, get out." The girl said to him while rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Huh?" his dumb response caught her by surprise and she started laughing.

"Well" She started in a teasing voice. " I have to get dressed, but if you wanna watch then..."

Aisha didn't even finish her sentence and Elsword already made his way out of the tent while making sure to grab their food. As he waited for the girl to change,he started setting up their breakfast on a fallen tree trunk.

When the girl actually left the tent wearing her promotion clothes she was surprised to see that Elsword didn't start eating right away, he was actually waiting for her. She expected to see him already eating, considering how much of a glutton that boy really is. She walked towards his makeshift table and stood down in front of him.

"Hey, you actually waited for me?" she said in a grateful tone.

"...Was it wrong for me to want to eat together with you?" the boy inquired, his comment making her blush.

"Thanks anyways."

The conversation died out as they were eating. Their meal didn't consist of much, a few boiled eggs and a couple of sandwiches. Even so, the two took their time, they didn't have to rush, as far as they were concerned, they were at peace.

"Well,it wasn't much, but it was tasty." Aisha concluded as she was wiping her mouth with a napkin. She then sat up and looked towards the sky.

"Come on, we have to go to the altar." She added as she made their way towards their tent.

Elsword nodded as the mage went inside their tent and came out with her bag. The two entered the tower and despite Elsword's constant complain about why they put so many stairs in the damn thing they reached the top quite quickly.

The place where they fought Berthe. The memory of that fight seemed so distant and the altar was repaired so no sign of the battle remained. If the two weren't there they themselves wouldn't belive a huge monster such as Berthe was defeated there were much more important things to do now rather than reminiscing.

Aisha moved to the center of the altar and took out three vials from her bag. Two smaller ones and a large one. The two smaller ones were of Red and Blue colors, and the other one was White. The mage took the white one in her hands and brought it close to her chest. She closed her eyes and recited an incantation she had learned from one of the books she's read a couple of days ago. Elsword couldn't understand much, but he remembered reading something similar, he knew "catalysta de corde puro" signified a pure heart, "catalyst" he knew meant her, where as "passio candidatus" meant the "passion of the candidate".Other than that the words were complete gibberish to him.

Upon finishing the chant, the liquid inside the vial started glowing, as Aisha started drawing a huge circle on the ground, and inside that a smaller circle. Elsword recognised this as the structure of a Rune. The girl then took the blue and red vials as she repeated the incantation, she then moved towards the inner circle's side and drew another circle using the blue vial, inside this one she drew four short lines and another circle connecting the lines with it's exterior margins. She then moved on the other side of the inner circle and drew the same thing, only this time using the red vial. The mage then proceeded to draw a red line from the red circle towards the blue one, and a blue line towards the red circle thus connecting the two. She then motioned for Elsword to make his way inside the red circle. Apart from her incantations nothing could be heard, Elsword didn't dare say anything that could cause the mage to break her concentration. As he reached the red circle, Aisha motioned him to sit down,as she began carrying out another part of the incantation. Suddenly the red liquid started glowing even brighter. The girl then made her way towards the blue circle and stood down. She gave the boy a bright smile, and repeated the incantation. This time the blue liquid started glowing. Elsword soon felt himself become absorbed by darkness.

The boy woke up in a familiar realm. He remember feeling like this during his dream. This darkness made him feel uneasy. Next to him, was Aisha, the boy couldn't see her, but she could see him. Suddenly the boy felt a presence behind him. As Aisha watched him turn, she followed his eyes as she noticed the man Elsword told her about. The only difference from what she heard from the boy, was that now his slacks were red,the same red as his vest,but his shirt was black. The man approached Elsword with his hands inside his pockets.

"I sense you're different from before." The man spoke.

Elsword merely nodded.

"Do you remember what I asked you?" He continued.

"Yes."

"Then, young man, care to tell me. What are you most afraid of?"

"Loneliness." Came the boy's answer. But Aisha couldn't hear it. The man made sure of that.

He then turned his gaze towards the girl and simply spoke.

"What do you think his answer was?"This caught Elsword by surprise as he followed the man's gaze and turned towards Aisha who was invisible to his eyes.

"Um...W-Well...I think..Elsword's biggest fear is being left alone, abbandoned. I think his biggest fear is loneliness."

"Do you think he can overcome it?" He said turning his gaze upon Elsword. "Do you think you can whit-stand living your worst fear?"

"Yes!" the answer was heard, said in unison by the both of them.

Hearing this made the man smile.

"We shall see then." As he flicked his fingers Elsword felt himself getting dizzy as he collapsed. Aisha could only watch.

"Don't worry." He spoke directly with her. "I have to tell you something, this ritual, you see, it doesn't only depend on Elsword for success." The man walked towards Aisha. "Most of the ones that failed this trial, they failed it because, well, they miss-judged it."

"What do you mean?" The girl asked.

"This ritual...It doesn't test the body, it tests one's judgement, one's soul, one's passion. Being a Rune Slayer, my dear, is more than being able to draw pretty shapes and throw them at your foes." as he grabbed her shoulder he spoke again. "He can only succeed with your help. Let's watch shall we?" And with another flick of his fingers, the darkness around them started disappearing, instead the view that formed was one of the village of Ruben, and a smaller Elsword standing in front of the Red Knight base his blade on his back.

The boy had a determined look upon his face as he made his way inside. The man and the mage followed him. Inside the base the boy looked around frantically,he asked every Red Knight member where he could sign in for training, each and every one knew him, but each and every one avoided him.

"Here." The man started speaking. "We see Elsword, A day after he received a letter from this base, in the letter he was told that his sister's unit had been wiped out." Hearing this Aisha let out a small gasp. "This, is the trial of the soul." the man finished.

"The Red Knight's captain is out, kid, you'd better scram." Elsword heard the Captain's third in command, the second being his name was Ronny, he was the Captain's best man before Elesis came along. Needless to say the man harbored harsh feelings towards the boy's sister.

"W,what do you mean Ronny?"

"I mean I don't want to see your face around here!" He said as he lifted his arm and punched the boy.

"H-Hey Ron, don't you think you're taking it a bit too far?" a nearby knight tried to stop him.

"Stay out of this!" The man warned as he took out his sword. "this kid has no business being here! He is just as his good for nothing sister!"

"Don't. Ever. Talk. Badly. About. Elesis." the boy muttered.

"What did you say, brat?" the man was about to punch him again, but the boy dodged evaded his arm and delivered a kick to the knight's stomach.

"You little." the man stood up and attacked the boy with his sword.

A flick of fingers was heard and everything stopped.

"Listen here, Aisha." The man started speaking. "This trial, while it tests Elsword's soul, it enables him to do something he didn't do before. It's up to you to stop him. This is why most of the people who attempted the path of a Rune Slayer failed." His fingers flicked again as Aisha watched intently.

The boy took out his sword and repelled the older man's attack in a flash. A red aura surrounded the boy. He started hitting the man who tried to block his attacks.

"He'll be able to hear you. But he can't see you, he won't know who you are, but you have to do something. Prevent him from doing something that he'll regret. You can use every memory ever since you started traveling together, those he'll remember but you'll be considered wiped out from his mind, at least for now." The man spoke to Aisha, and she nodded.

In front of them the fight was one-sided. Elsword kept relentlessly attacking the man,and he finally snapped his blade in two. He dashed to his side and punched him straight in the jaw causing the knight to fall over. The boy approached the knight dragging his sword across the ground. His eyes lost in rage.

"ELSWORD!" Aisha's scream resounded in his head. "ELSWORD STOP!" she yelled again. Unfortunately to no effect. He kept getting closer and closer to the knight that was crawling away from him. The girl then tried something else.

"Hey Els I know how you feel." The mage spoke in a soft tone. "You're alone, you think everyone left you, and no one wants to help you get what you lost back. But.. Just wait, there will be people that you meet and that will help you! I promise! Remember how Rena took care of us. Remember how we helped Raven and how he helped us back. Remember how you promised to be Eve's friend and how you helped Chung take Hamel back..Remember how you protected me in our dangerous fights...There are people you can count on, just... just don't act on rage!" her fists were clenched and she looked intently at the little boy, who had his sword raised above his head.

As she finished talking, the red aura started fading, a blue one taking it's place. The boy's sword fell down with a loud clang as he fell down to his knees crying.

"Y-Yes, I remember, I remember you Aisha!" he said between sobs.

"Hmm, this boy's spirit is much stronger than I'd have thought, he remembered you, even though he wasn't supposed to." the man spoke with a smirk.

"W-Well...He is Elsword, " Aisha responded, wiping away her tears that started falling while she calmed the redhead down. "Expect the unexpected Hehe."

A flick of fingers was heard and everything turned to darkness once more.

"This time. His judgement will come to test. For this one you can't do anything, this one's on him alone, you've already done your part." The man spoke as he flicked his fingers again the darkness faded again and the gang's house came into shape. The man spoke again.

"He has to realize something's wrong, but unless he does in one hour, he's doomed." and the duo were transported inside Elsword's bedroom as soon as he woke up.

The boy slowly got out of his bed and headed towards the bathroom for the morning routine. After a couple of minutes he came out and headed towards the hallway. His hand reached his doorknob and twisted it opening the door. Leaving his room he walked towards what he thought it was Aisha's room, he lifted his hand up with the intention of knocking, but he suddenly stopped upon reading on the door, "Rena's room!" and a bunch of stickers around it, he thought he was certainly in front of Aisha's room, he found this a bit weird but dismissed the feeling on account of being sleepy. He noticed Aisha's room was now straight in front of his. The redhead walked towards the door and opened it without knocking. It was empty. Completely empty. The boy quickly ran downstairs.

In the living room he spotted Chung and Raven staying on the couch and watching T.V, Eve was reading something, he assumed Rena would be in the kitchen.

"Hey guys...Why is Aisha's room empty?" the boy asked pointing towards the second floor.

"You forgot?" Eve of all people answered. "You two started fighting every day ever since that ritual happened, so Aisha got fed up and left."

"W...What?" Elsword stood there dumbly.

"Yeah," Eve added " She also said she didn't want to see you again and everything. I don't understand you, were quite happy when she left."

"I...I was happy to see her leave?" Elsword was confused, "why don't I remember this? I remember the ritual succeeding but I have no memory of this." he thought. Elsword dumbly went and took a seat in a nearby armchair, burying his face in his palms.

A couple of minutes went by as Aisha said something to the man.

"How much time does he have?"

"About, twenty minutes." He had a calm demeanor about him and Aisha felt uneasy.

"Don't worry Elsword, you'll get over it" Rena cheerfully saidas she brought two cups of coffee and put them on the table. Chung took one as she took the other one. Elsword briefly noticed the coffee,but what sparked his attention was what the Elf did.

Rena held the cup to her mouth and took a sip of the black liquid before talking again.

"Oh, sorry you wanted some too?I'll make some right away."

Elsword stood up, he looked carefully at Rena yet nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

"Rena...you don't drink coffee." He stated.

"I know I used not to, but now I kind of-" Elsword interrupted her.

"No...You're allergic to coffee!" He stated as the Elf started giggling.

"Elsword, calm down,everyone can try something new." Eve put down her fashion magazine.

"Yeah kid. Relax it's just coffee." Raven also added while he stretched his left hand towards the remote.

This time Elsword knew something was up. He unconsciously brought his hand to where his sword was supposed to be, and by miracle, or maybe it was supposed to be like this, the weapon appeared in his hands.

"Hey...Raven..How's your arm?" Elsword asked. "Does it hurt anymore?"

"What do you mean?" The older man asked while looking at his left arm. "It's the same as it always was."

"Don't play stupid with me. Something's wrong here. Rena doesn't drink coffee, Eve doesn't read fashion magazines, your nasod arm is on your LEFT, and you HONESTLY EXPECT ME TO MAKE AISHA LEAVE THE GANG?!" Upon saying that the boy dashed towards the older man and tried attacking him.

A flick of fingers was heard.

"Bravo, I'm actually impressed." The white-haired man said as he aproached Elsword, everything fading into darkness once more.

"You've managed to sway the tests in your favor not once, but twice, your weapon wasn't supposed to appear there." The man continued with a smirk.

"This is your final test, the test of passion." He extended his hand towards Aisha.

"Do you care about her?" The man asked as Aisha moved closer to the two.

"Yes!" Was the boy's answer.

"Is she dear to you?" The man kept asking.

"Yes! My answer won't change no matter what!" Elsword used a hand motion to prove his point.

"Good. Prove it." The man faded from Elsword's view.

"You can still hear me, and see me." Aisha heard him speak, "But he can't. Place your trust in him, and you'll both get out of this place."

"There you guys are." A familiar voice was heard from behind Elsword.

"We have been searching for you...you know?" Footsteps were coming closer to the two.

Raven and Eve came into the redhead's view. The first thing Elsword noticed was their appearance, Eve still had her royal appearance, but her hair was longer and her outfit was different from what he knew. Raven as well was different, he had white and black hair and he wore it spiky, but the most obvious thing Elsword noticed was his nasod arm, it was bigger, and sparks came out of it. Raven noticed him staring.

"Do you like it?" He asked with a smirk while he licked the tip of his claw.

" do you want?" Elsword coldly replied.

"Her." Raven gave a wicked grin and pointed at Aisha.

"Never." Elsword got ready.

The older man chuckled and dashed towards the redhead, Eve following suit. He drew his claw backwards threw a massive punch at Elsword who recoiled while he blocked with his sword. Eve was waiting for an opening she launched multiple energy needles at Elsword who was unable to dodge. The knight felt the the lasers burn his skin, but stood his ground.

"Elsword!" Aisha gave a frightened scream.

"Don't." the man spoke, "When the time is right tell him to use the rune powers. Otherwise, just dodge."

The boy barely got himself on his feet after that attack. His friends acted like they normally would, they completed each-other and acted as knew he won't last long if they kept it up like this but he couldn't give up, if not for him, he swore he'll protect Aisha no matter what. And so he took offensive. He started dashing towards Raven who just chuckled madly, the older man dodged his strike and swiftly kicked him down. He then motioned Eve to go after Aisha. The nasod queen started walking towards the mage. Raven brought the boy to his knees, then lifted him up and grabbed him from behind, putting his arm behind his neck and making him drop his sword. Eve finally reached the mage, who offered little resistance as she was unable to cast her spells. The nasod queen charged up an energy ball and launched it towards the girl who managed to get out of the way. Eve gave a small tch, as she simply fired a rapid laser at Aisha's feet managing to make her fall. The mage felt the burning sensation at her feet, but she was paralyzed in fear. Her friend was looking at her with colder than usual eyes. All Aisha could do was look at Elsword and mutter a small "Help me."

Seeing this made the boy snap, his eyes turned completely red. He felt a small familiarity towards this feeling as the huge blade that destroyed the demon Berthe errupted once again from his back impaling Raven and causing him to turn to dust. Elsword quickly grabbed his sword and started running towards the fallen mage and the silver haired girl. The latter turned her head towards him and with a swift motion she fired a particle ray towards him, Elsword tried dodging the queen's attack but it managed to hit him and pierce through his left shoulder, causing him to lose his momentum, but not enough to stop him from slashing Eve.

The boy saw the nasod queen turn into dust as he used his sword to keep himself standing. Between pants he still was concerned with the mage's safety.

"Are..Are you okay?" He asked while trying to ignore the pain he felt in his left shoulder.

"Y...Yeah, sorry, I can't cast anything while I'm in here." Aisha looked useless, she felt useless.

"It's my fault you're caught in this, so I'm going to make sure I get you out of this!"

"How charming." Came a voice from Elsword's left.

"Terribly cute indeed." Another one, this time from his right.

The boy sighed and straightened himself, sword in hand, he looked towards Aisha.

"I'm going to get you out of here, I promise!" As he fimished saying that he was engulfed in a red aura.

The owners of the two voices came into view. To his left was a long haired Chung, with a massive destroyer in hand, he wore a sweet smile that made Elsword uneasy. To the right was Rena, in a green dress wearing black boots that made her feet invisible in the darkness surrounding them.

"Now then, Shall we begin?" Chung asked the elf, she simply gave him a cheery smile as the both dashed towards the redhead.

"DON'T GET AHEAD OF YOURSELVES!" He yelled as he dashed towards Chung evading one hit from his Destroyer and rolling behind him, as he got ready to impale his foe Rena jumped from over him delivering a kick straight into the side of his head, knocking him several feet away.

"Tch" the boy got up spitting blood from his mouth. But his enemies didn't let him catch a break, Chung immediately charged at him with his Destroyer and while Elsword blocked Rena appeared next to him and started relentlessly kicking him. Rena's attack caused the redhead to lose his footing as Chung managed to land a massive blow with his Destroyer knocking him down. The blonde then leaped towards the fallen knight with his massive cannon above his head trying to finish the fight. All while the elf watched with an amused grin.

A loud clang was heard as Elsword blocked the strike with his blade. But the sheer force of the cannon smashed the ground around him. With a loud yell Elsword's red aura became brighter as he kicked the Prince off him making him lose grip of his Destroyer. The redhead used this as a chance to get up to his feet and impale the boy with his sword, turning him into dust.

Seeing this, the elf started approaching the knight, her feet glowing green. Suddenly, she started dashing towards him and connected a jump kick with his chest making him recoil backwards. Rena was hopping from one foot to the other in what seemed like a rhythmic dance while slowly approaching the boy.

Elsword was holding his chest and just watched her coming closer and closer. He expected a kick, but when she tried to punch him he instinctively caught her hand. The elf smiled, as with one foot she broke his grip on the sword by delivering a powerful kick in the flat of the blade knocking it away. She then started kneeing the boy in his stomach continuously.

"Now,tell him to use the Runes now." The man spoke as he flicked his fingers.

"E-Elsword! Use the power of the Runes! You can do it! The man from your dream told me so!" Aisha yelled at him from the ground.

Hearing this Elsword looked straight into the elf's eyes and gave her a scary grin. He unconsciously drew a small rune in the palm of his hand and pressed it against her neck. He then willed the Rune to grow larger, ultimately exploding it against the elf's head turning her into dust. He then slowly walked towards his fallen sword.

"I..Is it over?" Aisha asked the man.

"Hmm I wonder." As he said that a laughter was heard.

The maniacal laugh seemed to be coming from every direction.

"Pathetic." A dark but playful voice was heard. "Absolutely pathetic, to think these... useless things gave you this much of a hassle!" The laughter continued.

Elsword made his way towards Aisha. With his sword in hand and eyes darting everywhere.

"I'm here!" The voice said, as it approached Elsword.

"Surprised?" The laughter continued, the owner of the voice had Elsword's face, the sole differences being their outfits and hair-style. His hair had the same red but was black on the sides,his ears were pierced with two sharp earrings, he wore a black sleeve-less top, with a white line down the middle, and he had red and white spots on the sides. He had what seemed like blades attached to his belt and his pants were white starting from his ankles then they faded towards a jet black at his hips. He made a teasing sign with his finger signaling for Elsword to attack.

The boy paced himself, not knowing what his foe might be capable off he decided against charging in.

"Suit yourself." His enemy said with a shrug as he disappeared from his original position. He then appeared straight in front of Elsword and punched him hard enough to knock him off his feet and send him flying backwards a couple of feet.

His mocking laughter was heard again.

"Come. Duel me." the red and black haired boy gripped his sword.

Elsword got up with a groan,his red aura getting stronger, something which Aisha realised.

"Elsword, no, calm down! Remember how Rune Slayers have to control their feelings."

The boy looked at the mage with a saddened smile.

"Hey, I promised I'll get you out, right? Trust me on this." He closed his eyes. Took a deep breath, then dashed towards his foe.

Swords were clashing in seconds, their motions were too fast for the untrained eye, but Aisha could keep up with them, he saw Elsword push his enemy backwards, her eyes were glued to their fight, her breath was caught in her throat, then suddenly Elsword's sword fell down to the ground, and his foe's sword impaled his chest. The redhead's eyes fell upon the mage, the look she saw in them was not one of fright, but of sadness, the red aura from his body started fading. Then, with a loud yell Elsword put his arms around his foe, catching him in a deadly grip but pushing his blade deeper through his body, he turned his head again to see Aisha who by now had tears streaming down her face. The boy muttered a small "forgive me." tears falling down his cheeks. Aisha saw him drawing a rune behind his enemy, she recognized the symbol and she felt herself going numb upon hearing his scream.

"LUNA BLADE!" A huge blade formed behind him, as it crashed into the two, impaling them both. The blade lingered inside their bodies before slowly fading away into blue dust.

Aisha crawled towards Elsword's almost lifeless body as blood was gushing from his mouth, he set his eyes on her and slowly gave her a smile. Aisha hugged him tightly to her chest, ignoring the blood that was leaving his body. Her cries resounded in the deep, empty void.

"Now...This won't do at all." The man reappeared in front of her and knelt down.

"You know, this was the test of passion, and I believe he made it quite sure he was passionate enough. Plus. She'll never forgive me if I let something like this happen to him." The man said as he put his hand on Elsword's forehead. He then rose to his feet again.

With a flick of his fingers the duo was back at the Elgang's house, Elsword was laying in Aisha's arms. Her eyes were red and her cheeks were puffy from crying. Even as she noticed where they were, she didn't stop crying, she saw Elsword die in front of her. The poor girl couldn't calm down even after her friends came out of the house upon hearing her screams. Chung and Raven carried Elsword to his room and put him on his bed while Rena and Eve tried to calm down the crying magician.

After having calmed down she began explaining what happened to her friends, the worry on their faces growing ever so much. When she finally finished re-telling the story of the redhead's presumed death, and how the man brought them back to the house, Aisha never left his bed.

Later during that night the man reappeared next to Aisha.

"You know, I've never asked this, but who are you?" She asked the white haired man.

"Hmm, think of me as someone who owed a favor to a certain...redhead." he responded as he walked toward the window.

"Now, is this really the time to trouble yourself with who I am? I believe he's coming to." The man pointed out with a gentle smile.

A flick of his fingers was heard, and Aisha believed she saw the man as having a pair of white wings for a second. He put a finger to his lips and vanished.

As soon as he did, Elsword had woken up. Aisha grabbed his hand into hers.

"Elidiot!...don't ever worry me like that." She said as her eyes welled up tears again.

"Sorry, I told you I'd protect you, no matter what." Hearing this made her let loose a tear, which Elsword wiped with his hand.

"Hey,watch this." he said as he brought a hand from underneath the blanket. With his index finger he traced a circle in the air, orange dust coming from the tip of his finger, inside that circle he drew a smaller one, and inside it he drew an X, the rune then solidified and started shining brightly.

"Flash.." He smiled.

"Flash.." She repeated.

In the light of the rune he brought her closer, he first kissed her salty cheeks due to crying, he the connected his lips with her's. As if she'd lose him if she let him go she deepened the kiss and felt him smiling against her face. Elsword let go of the rune as his hand made it's way to the back of her head. The rune slowly glided towards the ceiling and evaporated as it made contact. Small glowing particles came downwards on the two.

**And thus.. A Rune Slayer has gained his Title. **


	6. Epilogue

I know I marked this as Complete, but due to popular demand, (actually two people, but those two people made me really happy.) I've decided on making an epilogue for this story. Enjoy.

Also I'd like to thank the ones that stuck through with me over the course of this story, your feedback motivated me to continue writing, and your criticism was reason enough for me to improve! * bows head *

Here are the classes, as always.

Els: Rune Slayer

Aisha:Elemental Master

Raven: BladeMaster

Chung:Deadly Chaser

Eve:Code Nemesis

Rena:Night Watcher

–-

**T/ Epilogue, Day Unknown.**

It was the middle of the night, the only light coming into the chambers of the now matured Rune Slayer, was emanated by the full moon high up in the starry sky. The, what once was a young Magic Knight became now a man. While his body didn't show much muscle, his inherited strenght persisted, if not even grew with the years. His face developed, losing its childish aspect, replacing it with a more serious look and a determined fire could always be spotted in his red eyes. The man was laying on his bed, wide awake, listening to the sound of breathing that did not come from him. Shuffling noise was heard from the other side of the bed, as a sleeping purplenette turned herself to face him, her head making its way onto his shoulder. With a small sigh, Elsword managed to place his arm under her head, thus embracing her frame, everytime he'd look at her, the shade of red in his eyes would change into a softer color, a more bright one. As he always told her, she now resembled his light.

The two were living together ever since the El-Gang moved to Hamel, after defeating the demon commander Ren, due to Chung having to take his duties as a Prince in consideration. The blonde with cerulean eyes grew quickly closer to Eve, who he promised his full support in helping with whatever was necessary in restoring her people, the Nasod race. The two quickly grew fond of each-other as they started attending various diplomatic meetings together. Even if they would deny any romantic involvement, Elsword knew straight from the source, as he remembered when Chung first told him about his feelings towards Eve, at the time, he was flattered, seeing as Chung saw him trust-worthy enough to confine in him. He remembered back then, when he assured the Prince he had nothing to worry, and that things would work out between the two. A chuckle escaped him as he found out he was right.

Raven and Rena had apparently been keeping their relationship a secret from the rest of the gang, they were afraid it would get in the way of their quests. And so it was a surprise for everyone when they announced their engagement. The pair were on their honeymoon and were expected to return two weeks from now. He had to fight back laughter as Aisha's face popped up in his mind as she caught Rena's bouquet.

Despite having a rather tiresome day, Elsword was wide-awake, and he found out remembering various things from his past didn't help his sleep problem. The man had attended a formal party hosted by Hamel's prince, of course Aisha was there with him, they were an official couple now and even he had attended a few formal parties since he became a Rune Slayer, thus becoming somewhat respected among the higher-class of Hamel, after all, not everyday an authentic Rune Slayer could be seen at such events, as his kind was said to be almost extinct. Even though he honestly didn't really care, the real reason he attended these parties was to offer his support to Chung, who was looking to forge a healthy diplomatic relationship with the rest of the continent. Of course seeing Aisha dressing like a princess and getting to dance with the purple haired mage on such occasions was a bonus he thought was well deserved.

Using his free hand he tucked away few strands of Aisha's hair behind her ear, as he softly kissed her forehead. Suddenly his ears picked up a strange noise on their house's balcony. The redhead slowly got his hand from Aisha's head as he left the bed, he stealthily approached the balcony door as he casted a rune to have on the ready in his hand. Upon opening the door, and laying eyes on the source of the noise he relaxed. The rune dissipated from his hand in glowy dust.

On the balcony, leaning against the railing, was the same cryptic man from his dream back in his Magic Knight days, the same man that took part in his ritual to becoming a Rune Slayer. His appearance did not change over the course of time. He still wore the red slacks and red vest he had then, even his shirt seemed the same. Only thing different the Slayer noticed, was his smile.

A low, calm, but warm voice came from the man, pulling him out of his shock. "Hello, Elsword."

He didn't respond, but he came closer to the man, and as he looked towards the sky, he heard him speak again.

"How's Aisha doing?"

Elsword leaned against the railing, mimicking the man's position, the nights in Hamel were quite cold, causing his breath to turn white. "She-She's sleeping, we had quite a day."

"So I've heard. Tell me, Elsword." The man turned to face him. "What are you most afraid of?" he enquired.

The Rune Slayer took a moment to decide his answer. "Nothing."

A low cluckle was heard, "Seems like you've turned into quite the man." the man looked towards the stars, "You know. You've grown on me, kid." he moved a hand through his hair as he turned his head towards the Rune Slayer. "She'd be proud."

Elsword's reply came in a shakier voice than he wanted to "What do you mean? Who's she?"

A flick of fingers was heard, and wings came out of the man's back. "Listen, tomorrow, at 4 PM sharply, leave the town, and walk straight North, and wait in front of the bridge." The man started lifting from the ground. "I'm giving you one shot at this, don't mess up. I'd hate to see the look on her face if you don't show up. You have one shot at this." was his warning as he vanished.

Sweat beads formed on Elsword's forehead, he was startled when a pair of arms embraced him. As he turned his head, he saw Aisha's head pop up under his arm. "Hey, the bed's lonely without you." The magician said while shyly tightening her embrace. The man gave in and followed her inside.

The next day, Elsword decided he'd follow the man's advice, and at 3 PM sharp, he started walking with a brisk pace towards the bridge the white haired man mentioned. He arrived there at 3:54 PM.

The young man was shaking with anticipation, he heeded the man's warning and was standing in front of the bridge even before his watch turned to 4 PM. A strong gust of wind suddenly hit him, almost causing the red head to lose his balance. In front of him, the man then appeared.

"You've came." he smiled. "I'm glad. I came, to return something to you, someone you've vowed to rescue, I know your searches were fruitless. Just.. Thank me later, okay?" As he flicked his fingers, he vanished as fast as he appeared.

Behind him, on the far end of the bridge, someone could now be seen wobbly and on the verge of collapsing. Elsword started crossing the bride, unconsciously quickening his pace. As he got closer to the mysterious person, his eyes widened in realization, tears started welling into his eyes as he started dashing towards the other end of the bridge. In front of him, a girl with red hair and eyes as crimson as his, wearing broken armor, was trying hardly to keep her balance.

"ELESIIIS!" Yelled Elsword, again and again, as he continued dashing towards her. He could make out her face now, it really was her, his sister, his long forgotten sister. She tears were streaming down her face as she saw her brother running towards her. Her breath was caught in her throat she tried walking forwards, but her weakened state couldn't hold the weight of her body. She fell to her knees as the man reached her.

"ELESIS! IT REALLY IS YOU!" He screamed between sobs, the tears, the tears he when he got the letter announcing her disappearance, those were bitter tears, these tears that streamed down his face, were tears of happiness. Both sibling were crying, and embracing each-other on the ground.

Between sobs, Elsword managed to mutter to his sister something. "Elesis, you're okay, you're alive!" the man took her in his arms, and started heading towards Hamel, a smile was plastered on his face, but his tears wouldn't stop. His most important goal, seeing his sister alive, was reached. His gaze turned towards the skies as he muttered a "Thank you." Although he didn't know why the man did this. He thanked him from the bottom of his heart as he walked holding his sister in his arms.

The girl's voice was weak, but she tried speaking anyways. "Elsword, you've grown, I-I'm so proud of you." Her words were soft, and were said against his chest. The Rune Slayer finally had his sister back, and she was proud of him.

In the skies, the white haired man watched, a tear slid down his cheek. "You're welcome kid, you're welcome."


End file.
